If the World Were a Village: A Book About the World's People by David J. Smith, Shelagh Armstrong (Illustrator)
Reading level: Ages 9-12

There are currently more than six billion people on the planet! This enormous number can be difficult to grasp, especially for a child. But what if we imagine the whole world as a village of just 100 people?

The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles by Julie Andrews Edwards
Reading level: Ages 9-12

What on earth is a Whangdoodle? A "fanciful creature of undefined nature," it was also once the wisest, kindest, most fun-loving living thing in the world--until people stopped believing in it. When that lack of faith became widespread, the last of the really great Whangdoodles created a special land full of extraordinary creatures: furry Flukes, the sly High-Behind Splintercat, and the wonderful Whiffle Bird. But when an open-minded professor--the one adult who still believes in the Whangdoodle--joins forces with three children with active imaginations, they become an unstoppable team on a fantastic and sometimes terrifying journey to Whangdoodleland.

After Bess Brennan is blinded in a sledding accident, she must face a frightening, much-altered world. Confronted with a new set of obstacles, Bess manages to overcome her disabilities with help from her new friends at the Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, MA, where she also learns how to read Braille. Her twin sister, Elin, assists her with recording daily events in her diary and contributes entries of her own. Set against the backdrop of the Great Depression, Bess' story will inspire all readers to be strong in the face of hardship.

The summer she turns 12, Hattie Owen is steeped in the routines of her small town life until the startling arrival of an uncle no one has ever spoken about. Now that Uncle Adam's "school" - an institution for the mentally disabled - is closing, Hattie's family must deal with a childlike young man whose existence they've denied for years. Hattie suddenly experiences a summer in which she learns living life fully means facing both the good times and the bad.

Imagine coming upon a fountain of youth in a forest. To live forever--isn't that everyone's ideal? For the Tuck family, eternal life is a reality, but their reaction to their fate is surprising. Award winner Natalie Babbitt (Knee-Knock Rise, The Search for Delicious) outdoes herself in this sensitive, moving adventure in which 10-year-old Winnie Foster is kidnapped, finds herself helping a murderer out of jail, and is eventually offered the ultimate gift--but doesn't know whether to accept it. Babbitt asks profound questions about the meaning of life and death, and leaves the reader with a greater appreciation for the perfect cycle of nature. Intense and powerful, exciting and poignant, Tuck Everlasting will last forever--in the reader's imagination. An ALA Notable Book.

When Christmas Comes Again: The World War I Diary of Simone Spencer (Dear America) by Beth Seidel Levine
Reading level: Ages 9-12

After stops at Pearl Harbor and the Great Depression, this exceptional historical-fiction series for young adults continues with the diary of a "hello girl"--one of the brave young switchboard operators who volunteers for the U.S. Army Signal Corps during WWI.

New York society life couldn't be more boring for 17-year-old Simone Spencer, but her diary entries are about to become a lot more exciting--for better and for worse—as President Wilson brings America into the fight against the Kaiser. Simone's beloved brother Will signs up to be a doughboy, and soon after she herself finagles her way overseas to help the war effort, putting her native-sounding French (thanks to Simone's fiery mother, her "Maman") to use at a combat switchboard. (In the chaos before the liberation of St. Mihiel, Simone recalls, "If anyone had happened on this room in the midst of the battle ... they might just have thought we had gone perfectly mad. They might have thought we were screaming at one another in a sanitarium instead of an office of war.")

Wot, Wot?! Could it be another epic Redwall tale (tail?) thick with high adventure, heavy accents, and leek-and-turnip pasty from the beloved beast master himself, Brian Jacques? It is indeed, happy readers. Triss, the 15th book in the distinguished and wildly popular animal fantasy series, chronicles the exploits of a brave squirrel maid who travels from the bonds of slavery to the meeting of her destiny as a warrior at Redwall Abbey. Triss the squirrel, Shogg the otter, and Welfo the hedgehog, all slaves to the bloodthirsty royal ferret family of Riftgard, filch a ferret boat and sail away from the murderous clutches of Princess Kurda and her malevolent father, King Agarnu. Swearing revenge, Kurda sets out to recapture her slaves, her evil Ratguard troops reinforced by the pirate fox Plugg Firetail and his band of criminal Freebooters. At the same time, the badger Sagaxus and his bosom friend Bescarum the hare also set sail from Salamanstrom, to seek adventure on the high seas.

Imagine a Dickens story with a Venetian setting, and you'll have a good sense of Cornelia Funke's prizewinning novel The Thief Lord, first published in Germany in 2000. This suspenseful tale begins in a detective's office in Venice, as the entirely unpleasant Hartliebs request Victor Getz's services to search for two boys, Prosper and Bo, the sons of Esther Hartlieb's recently deceased sister.

Summerland is a magical place, where the local Little League gathers to play baseball on a perfectly manicured lawn, and the sun is always shining in a flawless blue sky. However, the small beings known as ferishers, who ensure this perfect weather, are threatened by an ancient enemy and need a hero‚??a baseball star, in fact‚??to vanquish their foe.

The ferishers recruit Ethan Feld, possibly the worst ballplayer in the history of the league, as their chosen leader. No one is more surprised than Ethan at their choice, but their faith spurs him on.

The Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis, is one of the very few sets of books that should be read three times: in childhood, early adulthood, and late in life. In brief, four children travel repeatedly to a world in which they are far more than mere children and everything is far more than it seems. Richly told, populated with fascinating characters, perfectly realized in detail of world and pacing of plot, and profoundly allegorical, the story is infused throughout with the timeless issues of good and evil, faith and hope. This boxed set edition includes all seven volumes.

Which type of books do you most like reading?

Thankyou for participating in the last poll. It appears 33% of you would take The Harry Potter Series with you if going to a desert island.

With this in mind, which is your favourite book of the series?

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Order of the PhoenixResults357 votes | 5 comments